Microsoft Co-founder Falls Victim To Identity Theft

Federal authorities this month charged a US Army deserter with identity theft after being caught stealing credit card information from one of the richest men on the planet, Microsoft co-founder/multi-billionaire Paul Allen.

Brandon Lee Price, an AWOL soldier from Pittsburgh swiped Allen’s Citibank credit card account information earlier this year to make a $658.81 payment on a loan from the Armed Forces Bank, according to an Associated Press report. In January, Mr. Price called Citibank and had them change the mailing address for Mr. Allen’s account from Seattle to an address in Pittsburgh. He then called back to say he’d lost his debit card and requested that a new one be mailed to him.

In addition to using the stolen card to pay on his overdue Armed Forces Bank loan, Mr. Price also spent $278 at a GameStop and $1 at a Family Dollar store. All of which happened after the AWOL soldier attempted to use the new debit card to transfer $15,000 through Western Union, which failed to go through.

Citibank noticed the illicit charges and promptly notified the FBI who had an agent follow Price around the neighborhood. After seeing him wearing the same clothes he wore in surveillance footage taken at the GameStop and Family Dollar stores, Price was arrested on March 2. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison if convicted.

Paul Allen, who helped found Microsoft with Bill Gates in 1975, also owns the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and has a net worth of about $14.2 billion, according to Forbes. For more on this, check out the AP report via the Washington Post .